A surprising amount of waste can be generated in one workplace, especially if there are no sustainability initiatives in place. If you're inspired to reduce the environmental impact of your company, placing a suggestion in the right manager's ear can get things rolling. As you inspect your workplace, consider the most feasible ideas your company can implement, particularly those that save money or produce income.

Create Awareness

Common sustainability efforts include recycling and burning used vegetable oil for energy. Ask colleagues to take steps to reduce the use of water, electricity and paper and to funnel waste, including food waste, into recycling or alternative energy initiatives. The Yale University Office of Sustainability offers free downloads of posters and fact sheets that are useful for creating awareness of food, water, energy, paper and waste initiatives.

Research Programs and Sustainability Fairs

All employers can challenge their employees to research and develop new sustainability strategies. Plan a sustainability fair, and fund it through donations from local businesses, including those seeking to set up an information booth at the fair. Employees can display strategies they have researched specific to your workplace and compete for a prize. They even can get friends or family members involved in their project. Encourage attendees to come with old office supplies and unwanted electronic devices for eco-friendly recycling, salvaging or disposal.

Dining and Catering Programs

Challenge your company's food service provider or events caterer to plan zero-waste meals. These meals can be just as nutritious and appetizing as those currently planned and served in the workplace setting. Other ideas include using locally raised meat, poultry, eggs, vegetables and fruits in meals and serving meals on recyclable, reusable or compostable dinnerware.

Revisiting Recordkeeping Practices

It's easy to overlook the idea of improving how an organization maintains records. Some organizations, such as hospitals, claim to go paperless in their client records but still generate millions of paper documents and then use air-conditioned space to store them. Each year, companies can study whether each kind of record is needed and then update procedures to eliminate those that aren't. They can devote more technology dollars to storing records on electronic tapes, optical discs or other archival systems.

About the Author

Audra Bianca has been writing professionally since 2007, with her work covering a variety of subjects and appearing on various websites. Her favorite audiences to write for are small-business owners and job searchers. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in history and a Master of Public Administration from a Florida public university.